Beneteau 473 Shoal vs. Deep Draft

[Bowman Sailor]

I'm considering buying a Beneteau 473 to replace Aurelia and I have a couple of questions. I can buy the boat in one of four configurations: 1. shoal draft & roller furling main, 2. shoal draft & conventional main, 3. deep draft and roller furling main, 4. deep draft and conventional main. My guess is that the sailing performance of these four configurations would, from best to worse, be 4, 3, 2, 1.

Can anyone comment on the relative differences in upwind performance of these four configurations? I'm not concerned about draft. The 6'11" of the deep draft configurations is fine with me.

Thanks in advance,

Steve

[Brazil]

You already put in the correct order. Fourth being the fastest .

[BirdoPassage]

I think the difference between 1 and 4 is less than 10%. It might feel more when you'r overtaken by a faster boat but...the difference is still small.

Johan, S/Y Bird of Passage, noe in Scotland

[bobconnie]

Shoal Draft for us ! rather give up a little speed to get into the places I like to anchor up in ! Just our 2 cents, either set of sails, but at my age would probly go with roller everything if it was shoal draft

[steve.garlick]

Totally off the point, but as the new owner of a Bowman 40, I'm curious why you would go from a Bowman 46 to a Beneteau? Just interested in your reasoning.

Regards,

Steve

[Bowman Sailor]

Steve,

Please PM me regarding my reasons for so drastic a change.

Steve

[ronbo1]

Why not tell us all? We're interested.

[Bowman Sailor]

Why not, in deed. I wasn't trying to be mercurial.

I've owned the Bowman since 1992 and I want something different - call it the 20 year itch. My sailing plans for the next five years include daytime traveling on the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries with a few forays into North Carolina via the ICW. The 473 is big enough and comfortable enough for these ambitions. She also has plenty of sister ships out there, so I should be able to predict her depreciation over the next five years.

The Bowman is an awesome sea boat. She'll never hurt you offshore and she'll take you where ever your dreams carry you. Owning her made sense 20 years ago when I had great plans for water sailing">blue water sailing. At this stage in my life, however, I want a "newish", simpler boat to service my greatly reduced sailing needs. I've also just spent three years of my life removing Aurelia's teak deck and this ordeal has washed away all of the joy of ownership. It's just time for a change.

Hope that helps.

Steve

[jeremiason]

Steve

I have a Catalina 470 with a wing keel and a roller furling boom. Our PHRF is the same as the Beneteau 473

My opinion for what it is worth is that on my paticular boat I gave up about 5 degrees of pointing ability (Close Hauled) when I went with the wing over the full keel. The difference in draft between the wing and full keels was 2' 2".

The roller furling main (Leisure Furl) has six battons. Sailing with sister ships and other comparatible boats (Beneteau 473 for example), we do very well and sometimes better than the traditional rigged boats and certainly better tan the "in mast" roller furlers, due to the battons. The rig is very easy to use and can be reefed under load. The only time I leave the cockpit is to rig the Asymetrical Spinnaker

Describing what you are planning to use the boat for over the next five years, I would recommend a shoal keel for the ICW and for conveniance a roller furler boom unit.

Good Luck!

[Highland Fling]

As a performance sailor i would have to choose the deep keel and the traditional (fully battened) mainsail with a Tide Marine Tough Track on the mast..............BUT why not join the Bennie group and ask your question there and see what sort of replies you get and justification for their choices...........I would have thought that if you are going to use the ICW then the shoal draft keel must have some serious advantages/benefits. I would love our 461 to have the 9 foot draft lead keel that i had on my First 456 ..... doubly so now as after having the RIB and outboard stolen while at anchor - Problems in 'Paradise' :-( - in future as part of our increased security procedures we will not be the nearest boat to the shore.

[avazquez]

Originally Posted by Highland Fling

As a performance sailor i would have to choose the deep keel and the traditional (fully battened) mainsail with a Tide Marine Tough Track on the mast..............BUT why not join the Bennie group and ask your question there and see what sort of replies you get and justification for their choices...........I would have thought that if you are going to use the ICW then the shoal draft keel must have some serious advantages/benefits. I would love our 461 to have the 9 foot draft lead keel that i had on my First 456 ..... doubly so now as after having the RIB and outboard stolen while at anchor - Problems in 'Paradise' :-( - in future as part of our increased security procedures we will not be the nearest boat to the shore.

Deep draft rocks! I love when we go upwind like a TRAIN on our lead keel deep draft Frers First 456! But then I guess it all depends on your cruising grounds. For us in the caribbean it is no big deal to have deep draft.

[avazquez]

Originally Posted by avazquez

Deep draft rocks! I love when we go upwind like a TRAIN on our lead keel deep draft Frers First 456! But then I guess it all depends on your cruising grounds. For us in the caribbean it is no big deal to have deep draft.

Deep draft.